Otto sternoff-beyer



(No Model.)

0. STERNOFF-BEYER.

RAIL SWEEPING ATTACHMENT POR STREET GARS. No. 438,868?

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Patented l001;.

INVENTOR ISSE WITNE Iol ' rkUNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

Y OTTO STERNOFF-BEYER, OF OARLSTADT, NElV JERSEY, ASSIGNOR TO THE l BROOKLYN RAILWAY SUPPLY COMPANY.

RAIL-SWEEPING ATTACHMENT FOR STREET-CARS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 438,868, dated October 21, 1890.

Application filed March 17, 1890, Serial No. 34:4,271l (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, OTTO STERNoEn-BEYER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Carlstadt, Bergen county, New Jersey, have invented certainlmprovementsinRail-Sweeping Attachments for Street-Cars, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to means used in connection with street, tram, or similar ears for sweeping the tracks as the car moves along.

The broom or brooms, for I prefer to use two--one over each rail and on a common shaft-turn on substantially horizontal axes, and their shaft is mounted in a broom-frame which is hung at its other end on the carfaxle, means in the nature of a spring` or the like being employed to raise and hold up the frame and to keep the brooms normally out of contact with the rails. In this broom-carrying frame is pivotally mounted another supplementary or auxiliary frame, in which is rotatively mounted an auxiliary shaft, which is driven from the oar-axle through the medium of gears. The brooms are rotated from this auxiliary shaft through the medium of a belt or chain and sprocket-wheels. A spring or the like serves to rock the said auxiliary frame in such a manner as to disen gage the drivinggears and render them inoperative and to allow the broom-frame to be elevated by its spring. When the operator, by the means to be described, depresses the auxiliary frame, the first effect is to put the gears into engagement and set the brooms in motion, and then to depress the rotating brooms into contact with the track. Thus the means for putting the driving-gears into and out of engagement are to some extent independent of those for depressingthe brooms, and the two do not act altogether simultaneously, but rather succes` sively-that is to say, the auxiliary frame is independently depressed until the gears are in operative engagement-after which the further depression of said frame depresses the broom-frame also, and when the operator allows the broom-frame to rise it rises first to its full extent and then the auxiliary frame rises independently and disengages the gears.

In the accompanying drawings, which serve to illustrate my invention, Figure 1 is a plan of a portion of the floor-frame and wheels of a Streetcar provided with my improvements; and Fig. 2 is a sectional elevation of the same,

the plane of the section being indicated by the broken line in Fig. l.

a represents the floor-frame of the car, b the axles, and c the Wheels. The wheels run on track-rails d. On atransversely-arranged shaft e are fixed two circular brooms f, one over each track-rail. These brooms may be constructed in the same manner as brooms usually used in street-sweepers, or in any suitable manner. The shaft e is rotatively mounted in the ends of two arms g,which are mounted to turn about one of the axles hat g. Mounted in these arms near the axle is a rock-shafth, on which are secured two arms e', in which is rotatively mounted a shaft j, on which is fixed a pinion Zt, adapted to gear with a toothed wheel Z on the car-axle. The broom-shaft e is driven from the shaft j through the medium of sprocket-wheels m on the respective shafts and a chain belt n. Fixed to the boss of one of the arms e', or it may be fixed to the rock-shaft h independentlyof said arms, is an upwardly-projecting arm o, to which is attached one end of a disengaging-spring p, the other end of which is secured to the car. of which is shown in Fig. l) tends always to rock the shaft h and throw the pinion lo out of gear with the wheel l on the car-axle, and thus to stop the rotation of the brooms. An-

This spring (a portion only other spring q, attached at one end to the rock-shaft h and at its other end to the car, tends always to overcome the weight of the brooms and raise them off from the trackrails.

The brooms are pressed down upon the track-rails and the toothed wheels held in gear by means of a rod, chain, or other like connector r, which is attached at one end to the arm o, and at the other 'end to the one arm of a horizontal lever s, pivotally mounted under the car. From this lever another connector r extends to the platformof the oar, passes thence about a guide-sheave, and up through the platform, where it is provided with a ring to engage a hook t on the dashboard. When this connector r is drawn IOO taut and hooked fast, the shaft 7L is rocked, the pinion Zt put into gear with the wheel Z, and the brooms depressed until they bear on the rails. The rocking of the shaft Zt is limited by arms u iixed thereon, the laterallybent ends of which are provided with stout setscrews, which impinge on the respective arms g, and thus depress said arms and the brooms carried thereby when the connector r is drawn taut, as represented in Fig. 2. The set-screws in the arms u are not essential; but they serve to regulate with accuracy the extent to which the teeth of the pinion 7c may enter between thelteeth of the wheel Z.

The arms g g constitute what I have called the broom-frame, and the rock-shaft h and armsi t' constitute what I have called the auxiliary frame. The shaft h being situated between the broom-shaft and the caraxle, it follows that when the auxiliary frame shall have been rocked until the pinion 7a is in gear with wheel Z and the set-screws in the arms u rest on the broom-frame then any further depression of the auxiliary frame will cause it and the broom-frame to move together.

Very little force will be needed to draw the connector r taut, and it may be applied in any desired manner, and when drawn taut may be secured in any convenient manner. W'hen the connector is disengaged, the spring p disengages the driving-gears, and the spring q raises the brooms clear of the rails. The spring 1J need not be very strong and the power of spring q need only bealittle in excess of that required to counterbalance the weight of the brooms and their appurtenances.

It will be obvious that the connectors r and r may be one orcontinuous, and that the device may be operated from one end of the car only; but I have shown the lever s provided with two operating rods, chains, or connectors r and r, coupled to its respective ends and extending to opposite ends of the car, respectively. This enables the sweeping mechanism to be put in operation from either end of the car at will. However, the lever s and connector r" may be omitted and the connectors or rods r and r be continuons, as before stated. If the levers be employed, its pivot bolt or pin c may be extended down to the proper distance to serve as a stop to limit the upward movement of the broom-shaft, as indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 2.

Vhichever way the car is run the brooms turn in a direction opposite to that of the wheels of the car.

Fig. 2 shows the fioor of the car in section; but the iioor is omitted from Fig. l, in order to show the mechanism beneath it.

Having thus described my invention, I claim- 1. In a rail-sweeping attachment for cars, the combination,with a broom-frame pivoted on the car-axle, and a rotatively-mounted broom carried by said frame, of a gear-wheel on the axle for driving said broom, arocking auxiliary frame pivoted in the broom-frame, an auxiliary shaft in said rocking frame geared to the broom-shaft, and a pinion on said auxiliary shaft adapted to be thrown into and out of engagement with the gearwheel on the axle by the rocking of said auxiliary frame, substantially as set forth.

' 2. The combination, with a car having wheels and axles, of a broom-frame pivoted on the car-axle, means for automatically raising said frame and keeping it normally elevated, a rotary broom mounted in bearings on the broom-shaft and adapted to be raised and depressed therewith, an auxiliary rocking frame pivotally mounted in the broom-frame and having in it ashaft coupledto the broomshaft, reciprocal gearingon the car-axle and -the shaft in the auxiliary frame, which is made operative by the depressing of said auxiliary frame to transmit motion from the axle to the broom-shaft and inoperative by the elevation of said auxiliary frame, and means for iirst depressing said auxiliary frame until the broom is set in motion, and then depressing the two frames simultaneously, substantially as set forth.

3. In a rail-sweeping attachment, the combination, with the car-axle provided with a toothed wheel Z, of the swinging arms g, the broomshaft mounted in said arms g, the sprocket wheel on said broom-shaft, the brooms on said broom-shaft, means, substantially as described, for holding said brooms normally away from the track-rails, the shaft j, rotatively mounted in the arms t', the pinion lo, mounted on shaft j in position to engage the toothed wheel Z on the car-axle, the sprocket-wheel m on said shaft j, the endless belt about the sprocket-wheels fm. m, whereby the broom-shaft may be driven from shaft j, means, substantially as described, for holding pinion 7a normally out of engagement with toothed wheel Z, and means, substantially as described, for forcing said pinion into engagement with the toothed wheel on the caraxle, whereby the brooms are pressed down upon the traclerails and the gears put into engagement simultaneously, substantially as set forth.

4:. In a rail-sweeping attachment, the combination, with the caraxle provided with the toothed wheel Z, of the swinging arms g, the broom-shaft rotatively mounted in said arms g and provided with a sprocket-wheelm, the brooms on said shaft, means for holding said brooms normally away from the track-rails, the rock-shaft h, mounted in arms g, the arms u on said rock-shaft and bearing on the arms g, the rock-arms vl on shaft Zt, the shaft j, rotatively mounted in arms il, the pinion k on said shaft j, in position to engage the toothed wheel Z on the car-axle, whereby said shaftj may be driven therefrom, the sprocket-wheel on on shaft j, the endless belt about wheels m m, whereby the broomshaft maybe driven IOO IIO

In witness whereof I have hereunto signed my naine in the presence of two subscribing [o Witnesses.

OTTO STERNOFF-BEYER.

Witnesses:

HENRY CONNETT, J. D. CAPLINGER. 

